Torture in the Name of Medical Science

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Forced electroshock, or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Experts aren’t sure why ECT works. It triggers a seizure, and one theory is that it somehow “resets” the brain.

Resets the brain? In fact, psychobabble torturers are able to persuade judges to order electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and anti-psychotic drugs against a person’s will.

“The real issue for the family, the guardian and the court is, ‘Is it working?’ And if it is working, how do we get him the minimal amount that keeps him functioning. And I would say that about any treatment,” Caplan said.

As I recall, many neocons also stated that waterboarding is useful and it works. Along the same lines some criminals deem theft to be useful and they think murder works. A quote: “The first electroshock treatment was forcibly administered to a homeless “schizophrenic” man in fascist Italy in 1938.” — Thomas Szasz, M.D., “From the Slaughterhouse to the Madhouse”, in L.R. Frank, ed., The History of Shock Treatment, pp. 8-11 (1978).

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